Chhattisgarh’s new capital, Nava Raipur, remains incomplete more than 25 years after it was first planned
Over 23,000 hectares of land from 41 villages have been acquired, affecting an estimated 250,000 people
Displaced families say many are still waiting for compensation, rehabilitation and stable livelihoods
Farmers allege land was acquired under pressure, while authorities say due process was followed
Long-running legal battles and policy shifts continue to shape the future of the project
More than two decades after construction began, Chhattisgarh’s planned new capital Atal Nagar-Nava Raipur remains unfinished, raising questions about timelines, costs and the impact on displaced communities.
The project, first initiated in the early 2000s, involves the acquisition of more than 23,000 hectares of land from 41 villages located about 17 kilometres from Raipur. So far, around 13,000 hectares have been acquired, with plans to take over more than 10,000 hectares still pending.
According to official plans, the capital is expected to be completed by 2031. However, with construction still ongoing after 26 years, many residents and observers say that timeline appears unlikely.
Some officials privately suggest completion may not happen before 2040, while affected villagers believe it could take even longer.
Rupen Chandrakar, president of the New Capital Affected Farmers Welfare Committee, expresses scepticism about official timelines. “The central government has many visions, and one of them is ‘Developed India 2047’. I am confident that only after the country is fully developed according to that vision will we be blessed with a new capital,” he says.
For thousands of families, the project has meant displacement and long-running uncertainty.
“When I was 45, my village was acquired for the construction of Naya Raipur in 2002,” says 70-year-old Ghasiya Ram, a resident of Jhanj village. “Since then, my family has received neither rehabilitation nor compensation. We have been reduced from farmers to labourers,” he says.
“Now we go to Raipur every day to look for work, but even that is not available. We are struggling to get two meals a day,” says Ram, who is one of many affected.
According to local groups, more than 50,000 families across 41 villages have been displaced or affected by the project. Estimates suggest that around 250,000 people have been impacted.
Kamta Prasad Ratre, secretary of the Capital Affected Farmers Welfare Committee, says many families are still waiting for compensation and rehabilitation.
“Our situation is such that we can neither survive nor support our families,” he says. “Our only hope now is the court, but even that hope is fading.”
Thousands of villagers have been pursuing legal action for over a decade.
Ratre says more than 6,000 farmers filed petitions in the Bilaspur High Court in 2011, seeking fair compensation and rehabilitation. Sixteen years later, many cases remain unresolved. “For the past decade and a half, we have only been given dates,” he says.
To press their demands, farmers once walked 112 km from Raipur to Bilaspur over four days to file their petitions.
They allege that land was acquired forcibly and without adequate compensation. These claims continue to be contested in court.
The prolonged legal battle has also taken a toll. According to Ratre, at least four farmers who filed petitions have died while waiting for a resolution. Despite these grievances, development in Nava Raipur Atal Nagar has continued.
The township spans over 8,000 hectares and includes six-lane roads, residential complexes, clubs, a hospital, an international cricket stadium, a new secretariat, the legislative assembly, a jungle safari, a botanical garden and a central park.
Yet many displaced residents say they have not benefited from the project. “There is no work for us,” says Ashok Kumar, a displaced resident of Titha village. “We sit at Raipur’s labour chowk every day, waiting for someone to offer work. Some weeks, only one or two people get work. The rest of us return home empty-handed.”
Local leaders say employment opportunities promised under rehabilitation plans have not materialised. Chandrakar says thousands of families are still waiting.
“More than 6,000 families have been affected, but not a single one has received employment,” he says.
Some villagers were allotted shops under rehabilitation schemes, but they say they are now required to pay rent for them.
Residents also point to social changes following displacement.
Ratre says that while men struggle to find work, women often travel to cities for labour. “In recent years, many women from our villages have gone out for work and some have not returned,” he says, claiming that more than 2,000 women are unaccounted for.
Chhattisgarh was formed on November 1, 2000, and discussions on building a new capital began soon after, with officials looking to develop a planned city on the lines of Bhopal, the capital of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
The state government consulted nine experts from around the world to identify a suitable site within 50 km of Raipur. The location was expected to require minimal displacement, have access to water, lie close to a major railway line, be near an airport, be environmentally viable and include sufficient non-fertile government land.
The selected location between National Highways 6 and 43 was chosen for its access to water, proximity to transport links and availability of land. However, the site also included 41 existing villages, setting the stage for one of the state’s largest land acquisition exercises.
More than two decades later, the project remains incomplete, even as questions continue over its costs, timelines and human impact.
The idea of a new capital for Chhattisgarh has also evolved over time. In 2002, then Chief Minister Ajit Jogi laid the foundation stone for New Raipur in Pauta village, with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in attendance. The initial plan covered 61 villages.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2003, the project was revised. In 2005, a new foundation stone was laid in Rakhi village, and the number of affected villages was reduced from 61 to 41. Restrictions on the sale and purchase of land were imposed in 27 of these villages.
According to local leaders, the restrictions were initially broader. Ratre says that following the 2002 announcement, land transactions were effectively halted across all 61 villages. Later, the restrictions were formally retained in only 27 villages, and after prolonged protests, reduced further.
On March 7, 2022, the state government accepted six of the farmers’ eight demands, reducing the number of restricted villages to 14.
Land acquisition began in the mid-2000s, but the process remains a point of dispute. Ratre says that land purchases began around 2006, and by 2008, acquisitions were underway without a clearly defined rehabilitation policy.
Farmers’ groups allege that land was acquired under pressure. Rupen Chandrakar, president of the New Capital Affected Farmers Welfare Committee, says notices were issued by the government in a RICO village asking farmers to hand over land through mutual agreement, failing which it would be acquired. He says this triggered protests that continue to this day.
The Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA), however, maintains that land was acquired through agreements with farmers.
More than 13,000 hectares have been acquired so far from 27 villages. But farmers question the nature of these agreements.
“In 2005, the government banned land sales in these villages except to the NRDA,” Chandrakar says. “So where does this mutual agreement come from?” Farmers say they had little choice but to sell at the rates offered.“Whenever we needed money, we had to sell land at their price,” says Ratre.
He also alleges that acquisition often took place without proper communication. “Officials come, measure the land and leave. Sometimes they don’t even measure. Papers are exchanged and signed between NRDA and tehsildar, and farmers do not even know when their land has been transferred,” he says.
Compensation rates remain another major source of conflict. Land purchases began in 2006 at around Rs 12.37 lakh per hectare. By 2009, the rate had risen to Rs 14.75 lakh. However, farmers say the government invoked an emergency clause allowing land to be acquired within 15 days of notice.
Amritlal Joshi, a resident of Baroda village, says some farmers were forced to accept as little as Rs 4.30 lakh per hectare. “Where is the justice in this?” he says. “This is dictatorship.”
Current rates offered by the authority are around Rs 5.9 lakh per acre for irrigated land and Rs 5.4 lakh for unirrigated land. Farmers argue these rates are far below market value.
According to Ratre, nearby unrestricted land is being sold for between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore per acre. “I cannot describe the extent of exploitation,” he says.
The NRDA disputes these claims, saying restrictions are meant to protect farmers from middlemen and that compensation is fair.
He says land acquired by the Naya Raipur Development Authority (NRDA) has later been leased out at significantly higher rates — around Rs 1.14 crore per hectare for residential use and Rs 1.82 crore per hectare for retail purposes.
The authority maintains that revenue generated through such leasing is reinvested into the development of the capital. Officials also say displaced families have been provided alternative housing.
Two resettlement colonies have been developed — including 20 one-room units in Jhanj-Navagaon and around 200 houses of about 400 sq ft each in Rakhi village.
However, some residents say the facilities are inadequate.
“I got one room and have been living there with my family of 13 for the past 15 years,” says Ghasiya Ram. “I also keep eight to ten cattle there. There is no proper sewerage or drinking water nearby.”
Concerns have also been raised over the use of nistar land — land traditionally used for common purposes such as grazing, water bodies and burial grounds.
Kamta Prasad Ratre says that in January 2011, the Supreme Court directed state governments not to encroach on such land. A circular issued in March that year also instructed officials not to acquire or use it.
Despite this, he alleges that around 2,764 hectares of such land — including ponds, pastures and graveyards — was transferred for the Naya Raipur project.
According to him, the land was subsequently mortgaged to the Housing and Urban Development Corporation for a loan of Rs 555 crore.
He also claims that infrastructure has been built over these areas, including a road passing through a graveyard in Chicha village.
The NRDA, however, says that the development of a modern township alters the character of such land but does not violate existing rules.